Reaching Out
by Nightcrawlerlover
Summary: AU. As the new kid at Sunnydale High, Buffy thinks she's doomed to be seen as just the "new girl" and be an outcast forever, as well as at the bottom of the popularity totem pole. But a chance meeting in the cafeteria with Atem 'Yami' Moto changes her mind for the better. Inspired by the 'Cafeteria' commercial for The Foundation for a Better Life.


**Hey there, my fellow readers and writers. I hope you are well. Here's a new Buffy/Yu-Gi-Oh crossover oneshot I cooked up one day. I first got the idea when I visited the website for a non-profit organization ****called ****The Foundation ****f****or a Better Life (which is called ‛values ****dot ****com' – just take out the spaces ****and replace the ‛dot' with a period****); ****it ****was founded in the year 2000, and is ****dedicated to promoting ****positive behavioral values, such as ****honesty, caring, optimism, hard work, and helping others****, and use public service campaigns to do so. ****I think it's a neat website to visit and get ideas for stories from, too. **

**Anyway, ****I went to the section titled TV commercials, and was watching this video called "Cafeteria", ****which instantly became my favorite video to view quite often, especially for ideas for stories ****and fanfics ****such as this one****. **

_**The idea for "Cafeteria" was actually developed during the making of "Locker." In preparation for shooting "Locker," the director talked with some of the spot's young actors. The young women said that they also had experienced bullying, but unlike with boys, who tend to be more physically aggressive, girls are more verbally aggressive. The staff and directors learned from recent research, as well as talking to young people, that often a person doesn't need a "reason" to be targeted by bullies – it seems that simply being new is "reason" enough!**_

**So, as a result of watching that inspiring video, this is what I came up with. Hope you like it! :)**

**Also, just so you know, this is an Alternate Universe. In this one, Buffy isn't the Slayer, and Atem, also known as Yami, does have Shadow Powers, and he does use them whenever he needs to – especially when it comes to bullies, of course.**

**Disclaimer: Genius Kazuki Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh. Joss Whedon (also a genius) owns Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I own the fanfics I cook up from time to time.**

* * *

Reaching Out

For Buffy Summers, fifteen, high school was a whole new world, but she still had time to get used to it. Maybe it was because she had prepared herself for it beforehand.

Anyway, it was now lunchtime, and Buffy was very hungry. She had gotten her own tray of food, and was now looking for a place to sit at. However, the cafeteria seemed to be crowded, and the tables looked to be full of students that were sitting together.

Buffy sighed. Being the new kid was tough, and tougher still was the fact that she didn't know anybody at all. At Hemery High, her old school back in Los Angeles, she was popular, and people knew who she was. They liked her, and they usually saved a seat for her at lunch as well.

Here at Sunnydale High, her new school, however, she was at the bottom of the totem pole. She was the It girl no longer.

Turning a mental hose on those images and washing them away, Buffy looked around the cafeteria, and soon spotted a table with an empty chair. Sitting at the table were three boys.

_Hmm, they might be friendly, especially to a new girl like me, _Buffy thought to herself as she then walked over to the table. _I hope so, anyway._

* * *

The three popular boys seemed to be in a discussion of sorts when they heard a voice – a female one at that – suddenly ask them a question right out of the blue.

"Would it be OK if I sat here?"

The question wasn't much, just a simple, little query. However, the three boys then looked at each other. Their looks of puzzlement soon turned into ones of scorn as Buffy sat down in the empty seat at the table.

"Is she serious?" asked the first guy as he picked up his tray and got up from the table to leave.

"Whatever!" snapped the second boy as he also followed suit.

"New girl!" hissed the third guy as he, like his comrades, picked up his tray and put the strap of his messenger bag on his shoulder before getting up and then leaving also.

Buffy couldn't believe her eyes. Or her ears, for that matter. Her hunch was wrong. Those three guys definitely did not want to accept her. At all. All they cared about was themselves and their "popular guy" status. They only saw her and her "new kid" status, and also saw her as "weird" and "odd". They were just looking at her appearance. They didn't care to find out what her dreams were, what she wanted to be in the future, or any of that stuff.

And they sure didn't say that she was more than welcome to be with them. Nope, not one bit.

Instead, when she sat down at their table, they had what she would refer to as a "Yank the Dog's Chain" moment (for she knew that all that time researching the website for TV Tropes and Idioms would come in handy some time). In other words, they had simply picked up their lunch trays, gotten up from the table and left her sitting there.

It was then that, as Buffy sat there by herself, tears threatened to gather themselves behind her emerald orbs and then fall down her cheeks while leaving tracks behind. What was going on? Why were those guys so mean? Oh, well. It was settled, then. For the next four years, she was going to be seen as the "new kid", and, from the looks of it, she would have to eat her lunch all by herself. Also, everyone would never know her real name, or what she was like as a person, either.

Fortunately for her, Atem ‛Yami' Moto, who was sitting at a table a few feet away from the one where Buffy was, had seen the whole thing. After looking at Buffy's now tear-stained face, he soon made up his mind and came to a decision.

With that, he picked up his lunch tray, pushed his chair back, and then headed over to the table where Buffy was sitting. The people that he had been sitting with looked at each other, puzzled, and then back at Atem and started whispering things like "Why is he sitting there?" as he then set his tray down on the table and then sat down across from Buffy.

Buffy looked up, and saw the most beautiful pair of crimson eyes unlike anything she had ever seen. But they weren't full of taunting and smirks like those three boys when she had looked into their eyes. Instead, the eyes that were looking at her right now were full of something else. Sympathy. He had seen what had happened to her, and he felt she needed someone to talk to. He would be that person.

"Hi," she said.

He smiled. "Hello. I take it you're the new student here at Sunnydale High." His voice then took on a serious tone when he spoke the next few words, which Buffy noticed and took a secret liking to. "I couldn't help but notice that when you sat down at this table, those... **bullies**... actually had the nerve to get up and leave you there." He shook his head. "How cruel could they be?"

Buffy smiled. It looked like she had made a friend on her first day already. "My name's Elizabeth Anne Summers, but I've been called ‛Buffy' my whole life."

"Ah, Buffy. A variant of Elizabeth, which means ‛God is my oath'."

Buffy blinked. "I'm sorry. What did you say?" she asked.

"I said that your name, ‛Buffy', is a variant of Elizabeth. And the name ‛Elizabeth' is Hebrew, and means ‛God is my oath'," Atem replied.

"Wow," said Buffy.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I've forgotten to introduce myself. My name's Atem Moto, but my nickname is ‛Yami', which is very neat, I might add."

"Really? Cool," said Buffy as she held out her hand for him to shake.

However, what happened next was something that not even the bullies could've foreseen. Right then, as everyone in the entire cafeteria looked on – including, Buffy noticed, the three popular male bullies – instead of shaking her hand, like she expected he would, Atem took her hand in his, turned it over so that the back was facing him, and then lifted it to his lips. Buffy felt the blush rising in her cheeks as Atem pressed his mouth against the back of her hand.

When he finally let go, still smiling at her, Buffy smiled to herself, while those around her in the cafeteria turned and started whispering to each other – mostly about what they had seen.

"Uh, thanks, Atem," she said.

"You're welcome, Buffy," Atem replied.

It turned out that Atem was in most of Buffy's classes, as their schedules were almost the same. So, for the rest of the day, Atem accompanied Buffy to the classrooms they were scheduled to be in. And whenever the bullies got close to Buffy, Atem would try and be there for her.

_Forget being alone and an outcast for the next four years, _Buffy thought to herself enthusiastically. _I think I have someone to share them with! How cool is that?_

* * *

**Now look. We've all been there; we've either been bullied or seen someone who has. Eighty-five percent of kids watch if a student is being bullied, and 57 percent of the time, when a bystander stands up for the victim, the bullying stops. **

**In my view, it's better to stand up and be a leader than to stand by and be a follower. **

**So do the right thing. Stand Up.**

**And, of course, nice feedback is very much appreciated, too. :)**


End file.
